Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:
- That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
- We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
- On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.
By learning about Smiths Crossroads (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.
As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Smiths Crossroads. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.
Name Variations for Smiths Crossroads ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Smiths Crossroads: Smiths Xrds.
- While the name of this community is Smiths Crossroads, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Smiths Crossroads may originally have been Smith's Crossroads.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Smiths Crossroads might be written as Smith Crossroads.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Smiths Crossroads. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Smiths Crossroads.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Smiths Crossroads is located in Mecklenburg County.
To see how the shape of Virginia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Mecklenburg County: Granville (NC), Vance (NC), Warren (NC), Brunswick, Charlotte, Halifax & Lunenburg.
Below are the counties that are near Smiths Crossroads. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smiths Crossroads:
- Mecklenburg County (The home county of Smiths Crossroads)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Hagood
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Hagood is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagood
- Marengo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Marengo is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
- Union Level
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Union Level is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Level
- Bracey
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- La Crosse
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- South Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Opie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Opie is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Opie
- Dunns Corner
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dunns Corner is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunns Corner
- Palmer Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Palmer Springs is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer Springs
- Ogburn
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Ogburn is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ogburn
- Cusco Willa
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cusco Willa is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cusco Willa
- Boydton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Brunswick County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Brodnax
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Netta ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Netta is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Netta
- Gholsonville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Gholsonville is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gholsonville
- Ankum
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Ankum is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ankum
- Gasburg
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Ezell
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Ezell is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ezell
- Lawrenceville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Alberta
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Alberta is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alberta
- Population from the 2020 Census: 265 people
- Powellton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Powellton is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powellton
- Edgerton
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Edgerton is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerton
- Dolphin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dolphin is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dolphin
- Ante
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Ante is located in Brunswick County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ante
- Charlotte County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Wylliesburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Keysville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Dinwiddie County
- Oldenplace ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Oldenplace is located in Dinwiddie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oldenplace
- Halifax County
- Aarons Creek
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Aarons Creek is located in Halifax County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aarons Creek
- Lunenburg County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Bagleys Mills
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Bagleys Mills is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bagleys Mills
- Wattsboro
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Wattsboro is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wattsboro
- Lochleven
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Lochleven is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lochleven
- Oral Oaks
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Oral Oaks is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oral Oaks
- Dundas
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Dundas is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dundas
- Kenbridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lunenburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Lunenburg is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunenburg
- Victoria
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Pleasant Grove
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Nutbush
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Nutbush is located in Lunenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nutbush
- Nottoway County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Forkland ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Forkland is located in Nottoway County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forkland
- Winnie
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Winnie is located in Nottoway County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnie
- Blackstone
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Spotsylvania County
- Brokenburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Brokenburg is located in Spotsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brokenburg
- Franklin County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Alert
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Alert is located in Franklin County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alert
- Lake View
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Lake View is located in Franklin County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Granville County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Townsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bullock
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Stovall
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Stovall is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stovall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 420 people
- Gela
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Gela is located in Granville County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gela
- Halifax County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Littleton
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Airlie
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Airlie is located in Halifax County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airlie
- Hollister
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- South Rosemary
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- South Rosemary is located in Halifax County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Rosemary
- Northampton County (NC)
- Henrico
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Vance County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Drewry
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Drewry is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drewry
- Middleburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Flat Rock
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Flat Rock is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flat Rock
- Adcock Crossroads
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Adcock Crossroads is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adcock Crossroads
- Henderson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Dabney
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Dabney is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dabney
- South Henderson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- South Henderson is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Henderson
- Gillburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Gillburg is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillburg
- Bear Pond
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bear Pond is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Pond
- Gill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Gill is located in Vance County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gill
- Warren County (NC)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Wise
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Wise is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise
- Rose Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rose Hill is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Norlina
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Church Hill
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Church Hill is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Church Hill
- Warren Plains
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Warren Plains is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren Plains
- Macon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Snow Hill
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Snow Hill is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snow Hill
- Manson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Soul City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- Soul City is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Soul City
- Warrenton
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Vaughan
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Afton
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Afton is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Afton
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Smiths Crossroads, see our County-by-County Page for Smiths Crossroads.
Cemeteries Near Smiths Crossroads ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smiths Crossroads.
This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Smiths Crossroads - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Smiths Crossroads covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Ephesus Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Free Union Church Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Little Bethel Church Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Zion Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Bethany Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- St. Marks Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Kingswood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- La Crosse Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Union Level Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Oakwood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- West View Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- St. Lukes Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Continue List (181 more) ...
- St. Andrews Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- St. Pauls Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Smith Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Smiths Crossroads had a population of 26 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Smiths Crossroads, with the one closest to Smiths Crossroads listed first.
- Marengo
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Marengo is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marengo
- Union Level
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Union Level is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Level
- La Crosse
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- South Hill
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Baskerville
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Baskerville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baskerville
- Palmer Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Palmer Springs is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmer Springs
- Antlers
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Antlers is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antlers
- North View
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- North View is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North View
- Cusco Willa
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Cusco Willa is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cusco Willa
- Brodnax
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Brokenburg
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Brokenburg is located in Spotsylvania County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brokenburg
- Forksville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Forksville is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forksville
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Keats
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Keats is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keats
- Muck Cross
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
- Muck Cross is located in Mecklenburg County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muck Cross
- Wise
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Wise is located in Warren County (NC)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wise
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Smiths Crossroads. See our List of 1890's Communities around Smiths Crossroads.
Newspapers Published in Smiths Crossroads ...
An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.
Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smiths Crossroads.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smiths Crossroads, there are papers which were published within 19 miles [30.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smiths Crossroads.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Smiths Crossroads:
- Websites specific to Virginia
- Pages specific to Mecklenburg County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Brunswick County
- Charlotte County
- Dinwiddie County
- Halifax County
- Lunenburg County
- Nottoway County
- Spotsylvania County
- Franklin County
- Granville County
- Halifax County
- Northampton County
- Vance County
- Warren County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Virginia
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Smiths Crossroads, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Smiths Crossroads) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |